LHSAA, event management company settle legal battle

Executive Director Eddie Bonine and President Vic Bonnaffee confirmed what Lake Charles-based KPLC-TV reported on Thursday — that the LHSAA’s long legal battle with a short-lived event management company has been settled.

Terms of the settlement with Varsity Event Management run by former Shreveport Regional Sports Authority Director Mary Ann Tice and ex-LHSAA employee Rob Owens were not disclosed by VEM attorney Shayna Sonnier.

VEM asked for $400,000 in compensation in previous court filings. The LHSAA signed a two-year contact with VEM in June 2011 but parted way by late December of that year. The LHSAA and previous Executive Director Kenny Henderson claimed both sides agreed to discontinue their business arrangement. Soon after, Tice and Owens filed suit against the LHSAA.

“Other than finally it’s over, there’s not much I can say,” Bonine said. “One of the things I was charged to do was to get this settled.”

Bonine and Bonnaffee deferred comment to the LHSAA’s new legal counsel, Mark Boyer, who was unavailable for comment on Thursday night.

“That report is true,” said Bonnaffee of Central Catholic-Morgan City. “We are pleased this has been resolved.”

Sonnier released a statement that said in part, “Varsity Event Management, LLC and the Louisiana High School Athletic Association have resolved their outstanding legal issues. Mary Ann Tice and Rob Owens are very satisfied with the result and wish the LHSAA and new Executive Director, Eddie Bonine, the best of luck in the future.”

“We are very grateful for all the support we received throughout this process, and we especially want to thank (attorney) Adam Johnson, who represented us initially during this process but ultimately had to withdraw to be a fact witness,” Tice said. “It is very unfortunate that this situation arose, and we are very happy to have it behind us.”